Submitted by Rev. Steve Parelli, January 21, 2011. Bronx, NY
A personal friend, who is currently making a documentary film on LGBT and religion in another region of the world, connected me just this week, by email, with Joe Wilson who heads up Out in the Silence, A Campaign for Justice & Equality. You may already know of him. If not, I’d like to introduce you to him here, and to his film Out in the Silence. His website is http://wpsu.org/outinthesilence/.
The following is a review by Nicole Pasini, San Mateo County Library
A personal friend, who is currently making a documentary film on LGBT and religion in another region of the world, connected me just this week, by email, with Joe Wilson who heads up Out in the Silence, A Campaign for Justice & Equality. You may already know of him. If not, I’d like to introduce you to him here, and to his film Out in the Silence. His website is http://wpsu.org/outinthesilence/.
The following is a review by Nicole Pasini, San Mateo County Library
When Joe Wilson decided to place an announcement of his wedding to his partner, Dean Hamer, in the newspaper of the small town in which he grew up (Oil City, Pennsylvania), he inadvertently set off a storm of angry letters to the editor. He also got a very different letter from Kathy Springer, the mother of an out gay teen. In response, Wilson decided to return to Oil City and make the documentary Out in the Silence, which, like Small Town Gay Bar, highlights a poignant picture of gay life in small town America.
Out in the Silence focuses on the struggles of a gay high school student who is living with homophobia and daily harassment, and a lesbian couple who are working to open a theater in Oil City, and facing resistance because of their relationship. However, what makes Out in the Silence most moving are the stories of heterosexuals who transform because of their relationships with GLBT people. Wilson chronicles the development of his friendship with Reverend Mark Miklos, who was one of the people who wrote a letter to the editor decrying gay marriage, and who eventually accepts and embraces Wilson.
Kathy Springer’s story is also powerful, as she is politicized by the treatment of her son and the lack of support from school administrators, and decides to take the issue to the school district and then to state representatives.
Out in the Silence is recommended for all viewers and deserves a place in all library collections, particularly those libraries serving small and rural communities.
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